


Old Friends

by levitatethis



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Canon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-17
Updated: 2010-05-17
Packaged: 2017-10-09 12:41:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/87616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levitatethis/pseuds/levitatethis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter and Mohinder reconnect as do Sylar and Mohinder. General angst ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Friends

"What is it Suresh?"

"I'm sorry it's just…I saw you – I saw Nathan take you up into the sky. And then the explosion over the city…I thought you were dead this whole time, we all did. And now here you are sitting across from me," Mohinder explains with a hint of awe in his voice. "You don't remember any of it?"

Peter shrugs his shoulders and says, "Absolutely nothing." He sees the warmth in the eyes of the man sitting in front of him and he wants desperately to remember who this man was to him before, but his mind only goes to black.

"So you two did know each other before," Caitlin asks, eyeing Mohinder curiously.

She sits in a chair next to Peter's, keeping hers pulled close. Her right hand rests on Peter's left arm that is sitting a top the table. Her body language is very protective of the amnesiac; Mohinder notices.

"Yes, we knew each other before," Mohinder addresses Caitlin. His eyes move back to Peter's eyes, which are questioning; yearning for any information that might help him place together the piece of his past. Mohinder continues, "We, uh, had an awkward first meeting. It was bad timing really. I had just received my father's – well, that's not important."

Mohinder's eyes glance about as he tries to control the shake in his voice at the mention of his father. Seeing the confusion in Peter's face he adds, "I was very rude to you at that time, but later…in a way, yes, we were friends."

Mohinder notices the shift in Peter's shoulders, as if a slight weight has been lifted. Mohinder imagines that the discovery of someone who knows who he is is of great relief.

"We _are _friends," he adds.

For the first time that evening a small smile finds its place on Peter's lips. He looks to Caitlin who smiles back at him and squeezes his left arm with her hand. Looking back at Mohinder, Peter picks up the picture laying flat in the middle of the table with his right hand. He analyzes the smiling faces of him and the man next to him.

Bringing his eyes back to Mohinder's he quietly asks, "And this is Nathan?"

Mohinder gives him a small smile and replies, "Yes. Your brother."

"You must be so annoyed with me asking the same questions over and over," Peter says bashfully apologetic.

"Oh no, please," Mohinder quickly interrupts to put Peter at ease, "Anything I can do to help, please do not hesitate to ask me."

Peter gives him a grateful smile.

It has been two hours with the three of them sitting around Mohinder's kitchen table slowly piecing together Peter's forgotten history. There was so much that Mohinder wanted to tell him but he worried about bombarding Peter with too much information all at once. Instead he followed Peter's lead, letting him direct the conversation. That was why they had not made as much progress as Mohinder would have liked, going over and covering the same ground repeatedly. But Mohinder did not complain. He guessed that the repetition of information was necessary for Peter to commit it to memory, to recognize it as real.

Mohinder is still recovering from the wonderful shock of opening his apartment door and finding Caitlin and, a very nervous, Peter just off to the side in his hallway. Back from the dead, indeed.

The little that Caitlin and Peter can tell him is some mysterious woman in Ireland who had killed Caitlin's brother while looking for Peter, a trip to Montreal and clues from an Adam Monroe leading them to the name Chandra Suresh. Mohinder recognizes the name Adam Monroe from one of Bob's files but the timing does not seem right to get into the gritty details. In any case Mohinder's happiness at seeing Peter temporarily sets aside his suspicions about what connects Adam Monroe and Montreal to his father, and him by proxy. Mohinder wants one night to revel in the good fortune smiling upon them, before looking for the hidden agendas.

Mohinder watches Peter look to Caitlin and say, "My brother," with a smile that lights up his face.

Caitlin smiles back before saying to Mohinder, "You said Nathan was in New York?"

"Ah, yes," responds Mohinder. Looking at Peter he continues, "I think seeing you would…He has been devastated by your death. I haven't seen him much since that night, but…it's been very hard for him. Seeing you now would be miraculous. His apartment isn't very far from here. We could make it in--,"

"Woah, hold on Mohinder," Peter cuts him off. "I don't think I could do it tonight. I'm still wrapping my head around the little bit that you've told me."

"Of course! I'm sorry, I don't mean to rush you," Mohinder apologizes. "In your own time, certainly."

"Maybe tomorrow?" Caitlin suggests to Peter.

Peter pauses to think. With a deep breath he agrees that the next day might be a possibility. The idea both thrills and scares him.

He looks to Mohinder and with a hint of concern in his voice asks, "But maybe we could stop by here first?"

"Absolutely," Mohinder replies. "We can talk about your…abilities, test them out?"

"Yeah. That would be great. Empath is what you called me?" Peter says with relief. "One step at a time right?"

Mohinder smiles in response.

"We should go," Peter says and all three get up from the table.

At the front door Caitlin heads into the hallway and allows Mohinder and Peter their personal space. Mohinder thinks to himself how it is always a group of three when it comes to him and Peter in this apartment. If it was not Eden it was Sylar, now it is Caitlin. Mohinder and Peter remain the constants, it is the third party that is constantly changing.

Peter reaches out his right hand to shake Mohinder's goodbye.

"Thank you Mohinder, for everything. You don't know how much it means to me."

Mohinder's right hand grasps Peter's and as his trademark smile brightens his face, he pulls Peter into a hug.

"Having you back is incredible Peter. Thank _you_," Mohinder says into Peter's ear.

In the few seconds that their hug lasts Peter knows that Mohinder is speaking the truth. It is a remarkable sensation, feeling so connected to someone who is, for all intense purposes, a complete stranger.

Breaking the hug, Peter and Mohinder exchange a final smile before Peter steps into the hallway where Caitlin is waiting. As they walk away Mohinder shuts his door.

He cannot control the smile that refuses to leave his face. He does not want to control it. What started off as just another day in the life of a covert operative, so obviously out of his league, has ended on a note so wonderful, so spectacular he can barely think clearly.

Peter Petrelli is alive.

For the first time in as long as he can remember he feels hope; that maybe now, the tide is turning. He allows himself to believe that, finally, everything will be okay.

 

********** ********* ********** ********** **********   
He has been back in New York for one week and so far things are not going quite as Sylar had planned.

If Sylar had his way Alejandro would be long gone from this world, his power coursing through Sylar's body. Maya would be under Sylar's control. With her at his side he would have so much uncontestable power the world would quake.

Instead, Alejandro is still alive and refuses to leave Maya's side. He and Sylar have already come to blows over Maya's welfare. Alejandro may not speak English but he knows a predatory threat when he sees one; he joins himself at Maya's hip. Without any of his abilities, and no understanding of what has happened to them, Sylar finds himself at a distinct disadvantage, even with Maya acting as his personal protector with each fight and argument that he and Alejandro engage in. This position is not one that Sylar likes, despite the fact that it keeps Alejandro at bay.

Bringing them to Mohinder took some pressure off, albeit very little, from Alejandro's desire to kill him. Besides that, Sylar desperately needed Mohinder to figure out what had happened to him.

As of yet the diagnosis is still unknown.

Sylar will never forget the look of shock on Mohinder's face when he opened his front door to the three of them. With an expected smirk on his face Sylar had calmly explained their situation, leaving out his quietly raging battle with Alejandro, while walking into the apartment as if he owned the place, past a confused Mohinder nearly frozen in place.

Sylar had to give Mohinder credit. The geneticist had switched gears very fast to tend to the twins, but his suspicious eyes had repeatedly found their way back to Sylar. In Sylar's delusional world he would have found a way to manipulate Mohinder into letting the three of them stay with him. Reality was far harsher.

Mohinder had agreed to check in regularly with the twins but he steadfastly insisted that he would go to them. Sylar knew it was his presence with the twins that posed the issue to the three of them coming to Mohinder's apartment again.

When Mohinder had been speaking with Maya, Alejandro at her side, Sylar had taken the opportunity to glance around the apartment he had once shared for a few days with Mohinder, and at one time visited frequently when Mohinder's father, Chandra, had lived there. He had noticed with surprise that others lived there now. Mohinder had confirmed with caution in his voice that both Matt Parkman and Molly Walker shared the apartment with him, but that they were both away for awhile. Sylar had noticed that Mohinder did not give any reason for why.

It was a strange emotion that had settled into the pit of Sylar's stomach at the confirmation of Mohinder's pseudo-family created during the months that Sylar was "dead". He could not explain it, all he knew was that he did not like the idea of Mohinder having other people in his life he was so close to, people he obviously cared for. Sylar forced himself to ignore the feeling, telling himself it was nothing.

Over the next week Mohnder had made good on his promise to check in on the twins. Sylar had wanted to take them to his old apartment but Alejandro had flat out refused. Since Sylar could not take the risk of leaving them by themselves in a motel, they might run off and tell Mohinder everything; he had found a decent enough motel with two vacant neighbouring rooms. This had ensured Sylar could be close to Maya and close to Mohinder when he stopped by.

Mohinder was patient with the twins; Alejandro and Maya took to him immediately. Sylar understood that very well, memories of his first meeting with Mohinder revisited him. In broken Spanish Mohinder had slowly reconstructed the story of their past and present. Sylar would watch these meetings carefully, standing off to the side, catching Alejandro's glares and Mohinder's angry glances. Maya learned to focus in on Mohinder's calming voice and Sylar's inviting eyes; it kept her distracted from the tense feelings that circled around all of them.

Only twice did Sylar address his lack of powers with Mohinder. He suspected that Mohinder already had a theory but the geneticist did not offer anything up. Sylar could tell that Mohinder, despite denials to the contrary, had been interested to find out what had happened, but with the twins around they rarely had the chance to talk one on one.

There was one time.

********** ********** ********** ********** **********   
_Once again, Maya is distracted by Alejandro. Sylar is intently watching them when he hears Mohinder speak up from behind. _

"Alejandro is a good judge of character. Maya has no idea what you have planned."

Sylar turns around to look at Mohinder; they share a knowing look.

"It's like Zane all over again," Mohinder mutters.

"I didn't have to work so hard to get you to like Zane," Sylar smirks before getting serious again. "This is nothing like Zane."

Mohinder's face goes quizzical.

"Your death has never actually been a possibility," Sylar continues.

"Oh well, that makes me feel better," Mohinder says sarcastically.

"It should," Sylar counters.

"Only because you've lost your powers," Mohinder states.

A few seconds passes between them. Sylar glances at the twins, still deep in an argument, before looking back at Mohinder.

"Speaking of which, when are we going to figure it all out?" he asks Mohinder.

"Remind me again why I would want to help you get you get your powers back? You did nothing good with them when you had them," Mohinder sternly says.

Sylar raises an eyebrow and retorts, "Because you're as curious as I am about what has happened to me. Don't act like you're above it all, Mohinder. You're not."

The truth causes Mohinder to glance away, partially out of embarrassment.

"I'm busy. I don't know yet when--," Mohinder begins in an attempt to conjure up some legitimate excuse to put off the inevitable, however, when his glance connects with Sylar's gaze Sylar interrupts and orders, "—Make time. Soon."   
  
********** ********* ********** ********** **********

It has been a long day. Maya's control over her powers has been getting better and Alejandro and Sylar have been watching her cautiously and curiously. Alejandro can see his own position in Maya's eyes shifting, being downgraded each day as her self-control grows in relation to her undeniable crush on Sylar. Alejandro sees the not-so-subtle smirk that pulls at Sylar's lips while he encourages Maya to use her ability and ignore her brother.

Sylar does not need his abilities to play this game. He knows how people work. The more Alejandro resists Sylar the stronger Maya holds onto him. At times, for Sylar, it seems as easy as child's play. However, today the growing animosity between himself and Alejandro has reached a boiling point. Unfortunately for Sylar, without his powers the fight would be even. It is that weakness that spares Alejandro's life by another day.

Frustrated and pissed off Sylar had headed out to Mohinder's apartment. He needed Mohinder to finally figure out what was going on with him, tonight with no more delays and excuses. He needed someone to talk to and Mohinder's angry glares were still more inviting to Sylar than anyone else.

Sylar had always existed in the shadows. Now powerless, he felt like a shadow of a shadow of Gabriel Gray.

In this state of self-loathing frustration he finds himself under a storefront's overhang, across the street from Mohinder's apartment. He sees the building door open and a young woman steps out. Peter Petrelli is at her side. Smiling and holding hands they start walking in the other direction.

A tremor goes through Sylar's body. Peter is supposed to be dead, instead he is very much alive and looking like he does not have a care in the world. Instinct tells Sylar to follow Peter and the mystery woman but he stops himself. Not only is Peter alive, he has obviously just been to visit Mohinder. Sylar knows that if he is going to get any answers they live in this apartment.

Anger is starting to rise through his body as he crosses the street and heads into the building. By the time he is up the stairs and knocking on Mohinder's door he is livid. He manages to calm himself down as the door opens.

There is a split second between the time Mohinder recognizes his visitor is Sylar and when he asks with contempt, "What the hell are you doing here?"

It is in that split second that Sylar sees something he has never seen before on Mohinder's face, not even during their roadtrip when Mohinder was all curious and hopeful and Sylar was contemplating being Zane indefinitely. The look catches Sylar momentarily off guard.

Utter happiness.

Sylar's eyes pool to black. That this sheer happiness is a result of Peter being back immediately sours Sylar's mood. He does not respond to Mohinder's question, instead he barges past him into the apartment before turning around and shooting a questioning glare at Mohinder.

Immediately Mohinder knows that Sylar has seen Peter. The intensity with which Sylar makes his stance in the middle of the apartment is unlike anything Mohinder has seen from him before. The last time Sylar and Peter faced off in this apartment Sylar had appeared all calm and collected. This Sylar is anything but.

Inside, Mohinder's fears race at rapid speed throughout his body. Yet he also finds a strange delight in Sylar's sudden burst of aggression. He can tell that Sylar is panicked. Mohinder closes his front door and turns himself around to face off with Sylar. Both stand, eyes burning into each other, silently daring the other to speak first.

Normally Sylar would pride himself on his carefully worded questions to manipulate either the answer he wants out of someone or to get the truth. In this moment, however he has no care for tailor made interrogation techniques. He wants a straight answer from Mohinder.

"How long have you known?" Sylar finally breaks the silence.

"Tonight was the first night. He…they showed up here," Mohinder answers with caution.

Sylar's eyes skim across Mohinder's face looking for a hint of something he is not saying. After a few moments Sylar takes a chance by asking the question he is not sure he wants the answer to.

"Having trouble with his powers too?"

Sylar tries to make the question sound casual but they both know how serious the question is. Mohinder could play it safe, tell Sylar he does not know about Peter's current situation ability-wise, but he does not want to do that. He wants to inflict pain. He wants to hit Sylar where it hurts, to make a point. Sometimes the truth can be a beautiful thing.

With a playfully cruel smile, Mohinder says, "Actually Peter still has all of his powers, _Gabriel_."

Deep down a part of Sylar breaks. It is not just the knowledge that Peter is still all-powerful, but that Mohinder delivers the information with such joy. Sylar recognizes the play Mohinder has just made by calling him Gabriel. It is a bold move that under other circumstances would be much more appreciated by Sylar. Mohinder is reminding Sylar that he is powerless.

"My name is _Sylar_," Sylar states firmly.

"Your name is Gabriel Gray," Mohinder corrects him. "You're a watchmaker's son. Nothing else. Not any more." Now Mohinder is enjoying being pissy. It is a moment he rarely gets and he means to enjoy it while he briefly can.

Even without powers Sylar is still quite fast. His right fist connects with Mohinder's jaw, sending the man flying backwards in surprise. Managing to keep his balance, Mohinder brings his hands up to this jaw, blood spilling from the split lip. Sylar does not give him a chance to recover. His left hand gripping Mohinder's right shoulder, Sylar uses his right hand to grab Mohinder by the throat and slam him into the wall. Mohinder shouts out in pain as Sylar pours all his anger into holding Mohinder in a death grip. Sylar takes pleasure in the knowledge that he is still capable of putting fear in Mohinder's eyes, no matter how tough Mohinder tries to be.

With his windpipe nearly crushed Mohnder still manages to gasp out, "Killing me won't change anything. In the end, the right one still has his powers."

"Stop," Sylar orders as his grip slightly loosens around Mohinder's throat. Now it is more a show of strength than a punishment.

Mohinder keeps going, "Maybe God or evolution has chosen. Peter--,"

"Petrelli is nothing but a whiney little bitch!" Sylar spits out. "Petrelli is no one!"

Unexpectedly Sylar feels Mohinder knee him in the groin, sending him doubling over in a flood of pain. Mohinder follows up with forceful right cut down on Sylar's face, sending him to the floor on one knee.

Finally able to breathe properly again, Mohinder confidently states, "Peter is my friend. And now he's back, so whatever it is you thought was going to happen you better think again!"

Sylar furiously looks up at Mohinder. He slowly stands up, one hand feeling the blood spilling from the cut above his left eye.

Battle wounds mark both their faces while adrenalin pumps through their bodies. They both know that this fight could go on all night.

Sylar's dark eyes take a hold of Mohinder's as he calmly states, "I know _exactly_ what's going to happen."

He slowly strolls towards the front door; opening it he casts a look back at Mohinder who is carefully watching him, unmistakable nervousness in his eyes.

A sly smile imprints itself on Sylar's face.

"I told you I wasn't done with you yet," he reminds Mohinder as he steps into the hallway, slamming the door behind him.

By the time Sylar exits the building the smile plastered on his face is already gone. The mask has slipped off and his mind is reeling. Stalking back to the motel in the darkness, his looming figure illuminated by street lamps and the flickering fluorescent lights of closing storefronts, Sylar's obsessive thoughts click into place.

_Peter is supposed to be dead, not alive with all of his powers in full working condition while I'm stuck trying to figure out how I lost all of mine.   
_  
Sylar fumes at the unfairness of it all. He wonders why he is being punished while Peter is, once again, rewarded. He questions why Peter gets to be happy and content, while he has to make due with strategically worded conversation and consciously constructed body language.

_Peter has done absolutely nothing to gain what he has. I had to work for each and every one of mine. I had to fight for them. I earned my stripes and now they've been stolen from me.   
_  
_Mohinder is right; I am only Gabriel Gray._

The intrusion of Mohinder into his thoughts almost stops Sylar dead in his tracks. Continuing with a few slow steps forward his pace picks up as he storms towards the hotel.

With Peter back and Sylar feeling essentially impotent he imagines that Mohinder will no longer have to put up with him. Mohinder and Peter reunited against him. This is what they have done to him. Peter will now take over as a new and improved Patient Zero, the most important and significant of all the special people. It will now be Mohinder and Peter working side-by-side with Sylar as a useless has been, a now defunct once was, thrown by the roadside. Peter will replace him. Mohinder will replace him.

_Mohinder will replace me._

That thought turns over and over in his mind. For them to do this to him, knowing what he could still be capable of; makes them just as guilty, if not more so.

Sylar pounds up the stairwell in the motel and down the hallway to his room. He practically kicks the door open and slams it shut behind him. He tells himself that this is not how things are supposed to go. Mohinder is supposed to help him. Now Peter has ruined it all.

Anger exuding from every pore in his body, he pictures Mohinder in his apartment working with Peter, who has taken over _his _place, laughing and smiling. _NO!_ booms his mind.

A glass, sitting on the counter top of the dresser across from his bed, suddenly goes flying across the room and into the wall, shattering into countless shards of glass.

It only takes a second for Sylar to understand what has happened. He immediately turns his anxious attention to the notepad on the night table, but no matter how hard he concentrates it does not budge. His frustration is tempered by his confused surprise. He looks at the shattered glass, it is evidence enough.

It looks like there is still a bit of Sylar in him after all. If Peter thinks he is going to weasel his way into _his _place with Mohinder he has got another thing coming. Sylar can be patient now that he knows he still has a trick or two up his sleeve.

He can hardly wait to show Mohinder. 

 

 


End file.
